Catalina Garzon, co-director of the Community Strategies Program; Meena Palaniappian, director of the Pacific Institute International Water and Communities Initiative; Swati Prakash, former director of the Community Strategies Program; and Pacific Institute Board member Margaret Gordon of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project are coauthors with Priscilla Gonzalez of the Berkeley Media Studies Group, Meredith Minkler and Analilia Garcia of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, and Brian Beveridge of the West Oakland environmental Indicators Project.

Article Abstract: We conducted a multimethod case study analysis of a community-based participatory research partnership in West Oakland, California, and its efforts to study and address the neighborhood’s disproportionate exposure to diesel air pollution. We employed 10 interviews with partners and policymakers, participant observation, and a review of documents. Results of the partnership’s truck count and truck idling studies suggested substantial exposure to diesel pollution and were used by the partners and their allies to make the case for a truck route ordinance. Despite weak enforcement, the partnership’s increased political visibility helped change the policy environment, with the community partner now heavily engaged in environmental decision-making on the local and regional levels. Finally, we discussed implications for research, policy, and practice.